HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — A man was hospitalized Wednesday after falling while setting up the Ferris wheel for the Tulip Time carnival.

It happened outside the Civic Center around 11:20 a.m. The 27-year-old man was airlifted to the hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries, police said.

The half-assembled carnival outside the Civic Center in Holland where a worker fell while assembling the Ferris wheel on May 3, 2023.
The half-assembled carnival outside the Civic Center in Holland where a worker fell while assembling the Ferris wheel on May 3, 2023.

Holland police said the man works for Skerbeck Entertainment Group, which is running the carnival. They say he was climbing an extension ladder as he helped put together the Ferris wheel when he slipped. He said he was wearing a safety harness but he fell anyway. He said he hit parts of the Ferris wheel in the fall.

EMTs stabilized the man on the scene and he was taken to the hospital.

On Wednesday afternoon, Tulip Time executive director Gwen Auwerda told News 8 that the carnival operator had stopped work on assembly for the day.

“They decided to send their workers home today. It was pretty traumatic to watch one of your fell teammates get injured in this way so they have gone home,” Auwerda said.

But she said the carnival is nearly ready to go and that work was expected to resume Thursday, so she expected it would still open at 5 p.m. Friday as planned. She said the carnival operator has a good safety record and she was confident in its ability to run it safely.

Auwerda said the Tulip Time team was praying for the injured worker and was grateful he was expected to survive.

“We’ve not had an injury during Tulip Time or during setup before so my heart sank when I got the news that something had happened,” Auwerda said. “We just pray that he’s going to be fine in the long run and that everything will turn out well.”

Tulip Time officially begins Saturday.

—News 8’s Kyle Mitchell contributed to this report.